There is no time like the present, mainly because the present is always fleeting. The last couple of 20 Questions Tuesday topics have been about the future and the past, so today’s is about the present.

Thanks this week go to Tree Monkey who is presently staring at some Autodesk software, Dustin who is presently confused by bumblebee flight, the Em who is presently contemplating the striping on tigers, themikestand who is presently discussing Keynesian economic theory and its impact on the price of halibut in P.E.I., Allrileyedup who is presently trying to find a recipe for cookies not involving wheat, milk, rice, corn, soy, dairy, or cat dander, and JW who is currently sweeping up the remnants of someone’s erstwhile coiffure.

On to the questions:1. Presently, if you look back at how you thought your life would be 15 years ago now, are you right on track, have done more than you thought you would, or still have some catching up to do? In all aspects of your life, family, work, socially…. If you think about your present life, is this where you thought you'd be (with work, marriage, kids, etc.) at this age?In some ways “no,” but in others “not applicable.” I think that 15 years ago when I was a rather naïve 18 year old, I would not have dreamt that my life would be where it is today. My 18 year old self had no real concept of what responsibilities and life were.

2. How are Little Man’s allergies and asthma?They are doing pretty well right now. We are hoping that with the recent deluge that some of his environmental snottiness might be eleviated. Ragweed has been a bitch recently.

3. Explain to me how I can give someone a “present,” I can “present” myself to other people, and I can live in the “present.” I mean, talk about needing to nail down a definition. Why do the tense and the object-one-receives-as-a-gift (or the act of bestowing something on someone) share the same name? Is it because if someone asked you when you would like a gift, you'd almost always say "now!" ?If I were a cultural anthropologist who specifically focused on linguistics and their subtle evolution, I might be able to answer your question. As it is though, I would be forced to answer, “I dunno.”

4. Do you ever dream about leaving the present?I am constantly leaving the present behind in the past and moving towards the future.

5. How many pairs of shoes do you presently own?6 that I wear regularly and 15 total that I can think of.

6. Will you ever give Little Man a digital video recorder and allow him to film things to his heart’s content then post said things to YouTube thereby creating the ultimate reality TV show, “Little Man for the Masses”…?Nope. Little Man is a bit rough on electronics. There are other ways that I can flush money into a toilet.

7. There is no question seven presentlyGood, I will skip it and go on

8. Which present-day ruler (of a country, not a 30cm measuring device) do you most closely associate with?Helen Clark the PM of New Zealand. She seems to be the most realistic of country heads at the moment. She is rather down to earth. Since she is that down to earth there is a better chance of her willingness to associate with me. Most rulers are from a social strata that I am not privy to and therefore would not be willing to associate with me.

9. How would you explain to Little Man that "now" is only "now" for as long as it takes to say the word, after which it becomes "then"?I think I would show him a Direchlet delta function and describe the partial differential equations that help to describe that system. There would be charts and graphs.

10. What are you thinking, right now?You don’t really want to know

11. If you weren't blogging the answers to 20 Questions right now, what would you like to be doing?Georeferencing rain gauge locations in Mali, Africa.

12. What is the worst birthday present you ever received?A pink cassette holder. The cassette holder was pink. It wasn’t necessarily meant to hold only pink cassettes.

13. Do you enjoy reading books/stories that use the present tense?Yes.

14. What is your opinion of the expensive gift baskets given to awards show presenters?I find it very interesting that they give expensive presents to people who have more money than god. I hate them for it and their Gucci hand bags.

15. Have I missed any other versions of the word present?Not that I can think of.

16. Is "pre-sent" a word, like I pre-sent my luggage to my destination via FedEx so that the airport wouldn't lose it, and then the FedEx train derailed, so I had to go without my favorite pair of pajamas that have purple dinosaurs wearing rollerblades?Firstly, Judges?... The judges have ruled and yes "pre-sent" is now a word. Secondly I am alarmed that you have a universe of pajamas decorated with purple rollerblading dinosaurs such that you have had to choose a favorite.

17. Do you think our kids will look back on the present gas prices when they're our age, lamenting about how cheap it was in comparison to their gas prices?I think the price of gas for our kids will eventually be less, because I do fervently believe that alternative power sources will be the predominant power plant for most engines sometime in our children’s lifetime (actually in the near future because oil production is peaking). With the decreased demand supply will go up and with increased supply prices will go down.

18. Why is the allure of time travel so much greater than just living and being content with the present?Because time travel is cool and most likely involves some kind of sound/light effects that make the time traveler seem even cooler.

19. Given the present state of affairs, why are people still so willing to stand behind a political cabinet that clearly disregards their followers (and the rest of the country's) best interests?People are sheep.

20. What would you like to be snacking on right at this very second? (Caloric amount be damned)Vanilla Bean Cheesecake (although that ain’t snacking)

To Recap:I have work I need to doMimma is heading out of town this weekendRain jackets for adults are not nearly as fun as rain jackets for kidsMints make my breath mintyFree mints make my breath REALLY mintyReally, how did Rod Stewart become a sex symbol?His hair is like someone bleached a skunk and taped it to his headAnd the only reason the hair is there is to detract from the noseCan someone help me on this one?

If you want my bodyand you think I'm sexycome on sugar let me know.If you really need mejust reach out and touch mecome on honey tell me so

Yet another fourth birthday play date this weekendLittle Man got an “It’s Peanut Butter Jelly Time” T-shirtI-R-O-N-YYou know what else is ironic?No?Well, if you figure something out – tell me.I’m all into irony these days.